Hockey Canada Announces 2014 Class of Distinguished Honourees of the Order of Hockey in Canada

Hockey Canada Announces 2014 Class of Distinguished Honourees of the Order of Hockey in CanadaHockey Canada Announces 2014 Class of Distinguished Honourees of the Order of Hockey in Canada

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Hockey Canada announced Wednesday the three individuals that have been named to the 2014 class of Distinguished Honourees of the Order of Hockey in Canada. These recipients will be honoured in June at the 2014 Hockey Canada Foundation Celebrity Classic in Vancouver.

Hockey Canada introduced the Order of Hockey in Canada in April 2012; the program annually honours a select number of individuals whose “role or service in the game is recognized as extraordinary” in Canada.

This class of three individuals brings the total number of honourees to 11, joining the first class of Distinguished Honourees Jean Béliveau, Cassie Campbell-Pascall, Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Gordon Renwick, and the 2013 class of Paul Henderson, Dave King and Mark Messier.

The selection committee met Jan. 28 and went through an election process that identified three new honourees (listed alphabetically):

Clare Drake, 86, is the most successful hockey coach in Canadian university history, with 697 wins upon his 1989 retirement. Over the course of his career behind the bench, the Yorkton, Sask., native led the University of Alberta Golden Bears to six CIAU championships and 17 Canada West titles. Drake also coached in the NHL and WHA, as well as internationally, serving as Canada’s National Men’s Team co-coach at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games, guiding Canada to its first championship at the 1984 Spengler Cup, and acting as a mentor coach for Canada’s National Women’s Team leading up to the 1998 Olympic Winter Games. Drake also coached football while at the University of Alberta, becoming the only coach in CIAU history to lead both sports to national titles. He received the 2006 Geoff Gowan Award, which is the top award given by the Coaching Association of Canada, was named to the Order of Excellence by the Province of Alberta in 2008, was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1989, and was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2013.

France St-Louis, 55, from Laval, Que., is a legendary alumna of Canada’s National Women’s Team. Over the course of her on-ice career, St-Louis won five gold medals at the IIHF World Women’s Championship, captaining the team in 1992 and 1994; claimed a silver medal at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, Japan; and won gold medals at the 3 Nations Cup and Pacific Rim tournaments, serving as alternate captain at both events. Most recently, St-Louis was named assistant chef de mission for the Canadian Olympic Team at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. She has served as a coach mentor for France’s national women’s team through the IIHF Ambassador and Mentorship Program to help grow the game globally; works as a coach and teacher at the Cégep du Vieux-Montréal; and is a technical consultant for the University of Montreal Carabins women’s hockey team. St-Louis was twice named Quebec’s most valuable athlete in female hockey, and in 2003 was inducted into the Quebec Sports Hall of Fame.

Steve Yzerman, 48, of Nepean, Ont., played 22 seasons in the NHL, all with the Detroit Red Wings, winning three Stanley Cups. He sits sixth in NHL history in scoring, eighth in goals and seventh in assists. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1998, played in nine NHL All-Star Games, and won the Frank J. Selke Trophy in 2000, Bill Masterton Trophy in 2003 and won the Lester B. Pearson Award in 1998. Yzerman played for Canada’s National Men’s Team at the 1985 and 1989 IIHF World Championships and claimed a bronze medal with Canada at the 1983 IIHF World Junior Championship. He served as executive director and general manager for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, as well as the 2007, 2008 and 2013 IIHF World Championships, winning two gold medals and one silver medal, while also serving as vice-president of the Detroit Red Wings. He is now vice-president and general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning and executive director for Canada at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Yzerman was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009.

ORDER OF HOCKEY IN CANADA CRITERIA

Candidates for election as Distinguished Honourees of the Order of Hockey in Canada shall be chosen “on the basis of their outstanding contributions or service to the growth and development of the sport of hockey in Canada, which may include players, coaches, officials, administrators, executives, trainers, physicians, inventors or any other person whose role or service in the game is recognized as extraordinary.”

Candidates are eligible as long as they have concluded their career as an active player or official, if either is applicable, for a minimum of five playing seasons before their election. All other candidates may be either active or inactive at the time of his or her selection. However, there will be no posthumous appointments to the Order of Hockey in Canada.

ORDER OF HOCKEY IN CANADA SELECTION PROCESS

A selection committee of 12 members was appointed by the Order of Hockey in Canada executive committee, which was established by Hockey Canada. The selection committee members, representing a cross-section of individuals with great and varied experience around the game of hockey in Canada, have been selected for a three-year term and can serve for a maximum of nine years. Each committee member can only bring forward one name as an official nomination for consideration annually. After inducting five individuals in the first group in the spring of 2012, there will be a maximum of three recipients annually going forward.

The entire selection process is confidential, and the names of those candidates not selected will not be disclosed.

The 11th annual Hockey Canada Foundation Celebrity Classic will be coming to Vancouver on June 23-24, 2014. The foundation’s annual gala and golf tournament celebrates hockey heritage and the on-ice accomplishments of Hockey Canada’s national teams during the 2013-14 season. The 2014 gala will be held Monday, June 23 at Rogers Arena, home of the NHL’s Vancouver Canucks. Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey, B.C., will play host to the celebrity golf tournament Tuesday, June 24, with each foursome to include a celebrity.